What plants might be grown, just for bio-fuel?

[Michaelangelica]

Kick the oil habit with a make-your-own ethanol kit
By Timothy Gardner, Reuters
Thu May 8, 6:00 PM EDT

NEW YORK — A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home that won't spike food prices.

E-Fuel Corp unveiled on Thursday the "MicroFueler" touting it as the world's first machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars.

Science News - Kick the oil habit and make your own ethanol

Make Ethanol in Your Own Backyard

Wouldn't a still be cheaper?
or
can't you concentrate it enough in a home still?

Some international politics:-
Brazil warns EU on green biofuel controls
Brazil warns EU on green biofuel controls | Environment | Reuters
BIG OIL does not like biofuels do they?

CALIFORNIA
Veggie oil burners get burned by state's regulatory red tape
Fryer grease users frustrated by legal hurdles blocking way

Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times

Friday, May 9, 2008

Dave Eck, a Half Moon Bay mechanic, had attracted a media spotlight with his fleet of vehicles fueled by used fryer grease from a local chowder house. So when Sacramento called, he figured officials wanted advice on promoting alternative fuels.

Not at all. The government rang to notify Eck that he was a tax cheat.

CALIFORNIA / Veggie oil burners get burned by state's regulatory red tape / Fryer grease users frustrated by legal hurdles blocking way

Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
An initiative of the EPFL Energy Center
8th Meeting of the WG ENV – Background paper on Soils

[Michaelangelica]

Well it had to come if the politicians keep taxing the Golden Goose( the poor and middle class)
Here we also have a black market in tobacco.
Home grown bio fuel
Ethanol, the ultimate home brew - International Herald Tribune

But Quinn says that as of January this year, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, he can buy inedible sugar from Mexico for as little as 2.5 cents a pound, which puts the math in his favor.
While this type of sugar has not been sold to consumers, E-Fuel says it is developing a distribution network for it.

No matter how much his machine cost it would be easy to recoup in hotch for you and the car. Liver fortifying herbs include St. Mary's thistle seed and anything else in the artichoke family
Here, of course, such a machine will be illegal.

[Michaelangelica]

Interesting, if simplistic, chart.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart...ls_compare.gif

[Michaelangelica]

This week, scientists from the University of Massachusetts said they have, for the first time, used plant cellulose to create a liquid that contains some of the compounds found in gasoline. This is a big breakthrough for “green gasoline.” The liquid contains 1/4 of the compounds found in traditional gasoline; it could be used as-is for a high-octane fuel, or further treated to get it to match traditional, fossil-fuel gasoline.

The press release said it might be 5-10 years before we see “green gas” at the pump.

Big step forward for 'green gasoline' at Dan Kulpinski

Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels

Biofuels Home

[Michaelangelica]

How about Grass?
Via a stomach or two?
Got milk? Convert it into biofuel - Frontiers - MSNBC.com



Also discarded school lunches?
The school with gardens and compost and power plant could be quite a system!

Using the same technology, Onodera hopes to harness the power of other school lunch castaways, whether pushed-aside carrots, detested peas, or his own son’s nemesis, the tomato. The nearby presence of one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants has presented another unexpected bounty that might be similarly harvested: jellyfish.

[Monomer]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Also discarded school lunches?[/B]
The school with gardens and compost and power plant could be quite a system!

Yeah, I imagine there's a few lunches that are thrown away! In grade 1 my Mum would wrap up lettuce and put it in my lunch box. Now, I love lettuce in a salad or on a sandwich but not on its own, so that would always go straight in the bin!

But that's a good idea using food scraps and spoiled milk for something useful.

[Michaelangelica]

UNIVERSITY PREPARES TO GROW OIL


Published: January 3, 1981
The university will retain patents on any developments arising from its research at the center, but plans to give investing companies exclusive rights to use the inventions commercially, he said.

The facility will include about 10 acres outdoors, and another 3,000 square feet of greenhouse space for growing plants such as jojoba, buffalo gourd, guayule and gopher weed to process into oil.

UNIVERSITY PREPARES TO GROW OIL - New York Times
A big 1980's mistake.
Someone has just bio-engineered a bacteria that can produce oil.
If you can't patent Gopher Weed What good is it to you?

[Michaelangelica]

New Biomass Technology Dramatically Increases Ethanol Yield From Grasses And Yard Waste

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2008) — University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass—and even yard waste.

New Biomass Technology Dramatically Increases Ethanol Yield From Grasses And Yard Waste

[Michaelangelica]

LABELLE, Florida (CNN) -- Bryan Beer, a citrus grower in southwestern Florida, sees himself as a bit of a pioneer. He's not digging for gold. It's more like he's planting for oil.
Bryan Beer and his family have grown citrus for 40 years. He says farmers need alternatives to diesel.

Bryan Beer and his family have grown citrus for 40 years. He says farmers need alternatives to diesel.

1 of 3


He is planting a jatropha tree, a plant that can produce diesel fuel and could one day power a 747.
His plans are a little less ambitious; he just wants to plant enough to run his tractors.

"Any kind of relief or help we can get from a cheaper source of oil could impact the agricultural industry tremendously throughout the country, throughout the world," said Beer, whose family has been growing citrus for decades.

Jatropha means "doctor food." It originated in South America, where it was once used for medicinal purposes.
There are three seeds within the golf-ball-sized fruit.
When pressed, its oil can be used as fuel in any standard diesel engine with zero processing, experts say.

Sound like a pipe dream? It's not.

Farmer turns to fruit tree to power tractors - CNN.com

[freeztar]

Jatropha seems better suited for small-scale (personal) uses.

Toxic jatropha not magic biofuel crop, experts warn | Markets | Reuters